April 16, 2011

It's been a few months since I've been on here and I decided I should do an update.  Charlie and I are expecting a baby boy this June and think that the best way to keep our friends and family up-to-date on the soon to be arriving baby will be through this blog.  Long story short, home renovation done, time to move on to the next project.  I will probably change the name of the blog but I'm not sure at this point what it should be -- suggestions are welcome.  :-)  I think I also need to come up with new titles.  I liked the "Week #" titles because it seemed step by step for the house but I don't know if it still really fits now.
About the time we finished up the house we also announced our new addition through our Christmas cards.

 We had our 20 week ultrasound at the end of January and found out were were expecting a boy!

 

BOY!! 

 Little foot and profile shot.

One of my girlfriends, Marie (her name also happens to be Moen) is 7 weeks ahead of me.  We took this picture at her baby shower.  She was 33 weeks along and I was 26 weeks along.  

28 weeks - beginning of 3rd trimester!

 30 weeks . . . I should probably have Charlie take these if I'm sharing them since the cell phone pics do not seem to turn out the greatest.  :-)

 As far as preparing for the baby goes, we cleared out the guest room . . . and that is it.  Actually, the crib should be coming next week and we have dresser that my Aunt gave us that will match.  I was also told that instead of a rocker I should get a recliner for the baby's room - it's more comfortable and we can nap too.  Unfortunately, that recliner has only made it as far as the living room....Charlie is hesitant to give it up.  :-)

 When we first started on the house there was a built-in set of drawers next to the built-in shelves (see blog post, Weekend #1). I have thought more than once that it would be nice to have it still.  However, I think the bigger main bathroom was worth it.

 I think Gus is in for a rude awakening when he is no longer the center of the world. :-)

Week #38

 

 Finally, our kitchen is DONE!! Counter-tops AND working plumbing! WooHoo!! We love love love the island.  Charlie and I pretty much eat every meal there.  

 

A close up of the sink (with dirty dishes).

 The completed laundry room - unfortunately its still got other junk in it since we are still a work in progress.

 Gus in the main bathroom with a view to the hallway.  We prioritized the master bathroom and put off the main bathroom until last - its finally about finished!  Gus was following me around as I took pictures and so he appeared in a couple of them.

 

This bathroom used to be the yellow bathroom.  We moved around the fixtures a bit and changed the color.  It appears light green on my computer but really its a tan/grayish color.  Originally, the toilet was on the opposite side and the bathtub/shower were against the wall with the window.  I don't know why anyone wants a window in their shower?  We had to knock out a wall to make the bathroom a little bigger to accommodate the new layout.  This meant we had to sacrifice a built-in in the guest bedroom, which was okay with me - it was worth it.

The toilet is where the built-in was for the guest bedroom.

 The finished entryway.  Again the color is a little off.  The walls are a darker grayish color but they appear green in my pictures.

 The NextStone, which is what appears to be stacked stone around the garage and basement door is now complete (on this side - a little is left on the front of the house).

 SNOW!!

 The inside of our garage - the gray box on the wall is the floor heat for the garage floor.  Hopefully this will prevent the cement from heaving and cracking. 

Week #36

It's been almost three weeks since my last post but a lot has happened!! The wood floors in the living room and three bedrooms were refinished and the cork flooring in the entry and hallways was also refinished - they are shiny now.  We installed new light fixtures in the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and master bathroom.  Finally, most of the trim work is almost finished! There are a few major items upstairs that need to be completed - we still need counter tops (they are coming on Monday) and the main bathroom still needs to be finished (this week!) and we are installing something called "nextstone" outside on the exposed parts of the basement - i.e. the garage door area.  I put old pictures right below some of the new pictures - it's a little hard to believe that this house looked like that just 7-8 months ago!!

The living room floor prior to the refinishing.

"After"

Cork floor refinished

New pendant lights over the island

Living room with baseboards and crown moulding

The living room 36 weeks ago . . .

Living room with finished trim on windows

New light fixture in dining room - also trim work is almost finished

Dining room 36 weeks ago . . .

Again, living room/dining room area

New light fixtures in master bathroom - we still need to install the faucet on the right side and the baseboards and crown moulding need to be done.

The same bathroom 36 weeks ago . . .

Week #34

I can't believe we have been at this project for 34 weeks! I do feel like its downhill at this point.  Work still left to do includes trim (which seems relatively minor), the main bathroom (work in progress), counter-tops and plumbing in the kitchen, new flooring in the laundry room, and finishing the basement (the biggie).

 Our new flooring in the dining room and kitchen is in!! Charlie installed it two weekends ago while I was out of town.  It is amazing the difference the flooring makes!

 

I decided I should put up a better kitchen picture - the previous one was taken with my phone.  We are (obviously) still waiting on counter-tops, hopefully that is just another week or so. 

 The kitchen has made a huge difference in how we feel about being in the house.  Charlie and I definitely went through a phase where we really didn't like being home and we found any and every excuse not to be.  That has changed, we eat at home most of the time and feel more comfortable in general.

 I started working on painting the trim we weren't replacing in the entryway this past weekend.  All of the trim in the living room/kitchen/entry area will be white - most of the trim is new.  I didn't want to replace the old trim if possible so I am trying to paint it and see how it turns out.  So far I've got two coats of primer.  I think it looks like crap but hopefully with two coats of paint it will look better.  The rest of the trim in the hallways and bedrooms will remain "wood" color.

 The wood floors in our living room and the three bedrooms are getting refinished on Thursday.  Once that is done there will be no more saws or painting in the living room.  I'm very excited to "move in" and make the living room look like it should.

Gus Gus!!

Week #30

Lots of progress has happened since the last time I updated this thing! The living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and bathroom were all taped and textured.  After taping and texturing, we needed to prime everything and then paint!  In addition to the inside work, we also got front and backsteps. 

Charlie's dad came to visit and helped me with some of the priming on the ceiling.  His sister also came for a few days and helped me finish the painting.  Once the painting was finished we were ready for cabinets!  Our cabinets have actually been ready since June and sitting in Grand Forks.

 The beginning of the front steps . . .

 The beginning of the backsteps . . . .

Cabinet installation in progress!

Bathroom taping and texturing . . . 

 Laundry room tape and texture . . .

 Charlie and I installed SnapStone flooring in our bathroom.  He did the installing (I did get to use the tile saw to do a few cuts) and then I did the grout work.

 KITCHEN!!! Well, minus countertops, flooring and a sink . . . but still HUGE PROGRESS!!!

Our back patio . . . I apparently slacked on taking pictures of this in progress.  I also have not taken any day time pics.  I will post some next time.

Same story with the front steps and walkway . . . 

 The master bathroom (formerly the pink bathroom).  It still needs small stuff like trim, outlets and a mirror but like everything else, it has come a long way.